Carwow launches live online finance calculator with Volvo with help from new appointment

Carwow has launched an ‘industry first’ live online finance calculator in partnership with Volvo.

The partnership will see the manufacturer and the online car buying site offer customers customisable finance options, together with data and insight sharing.

Volvo is the first manufacturer to link up with Carwow to offer this data-driven service, with more expected to follow.

Live integration of Volvo Car Credit finance - provided by Santander Consumer Finance UK - with Carwow’s site allows consumers to instantly translate an offer for a new model into a representative PCP finance example, the terms of which are configurable online. Users can adjust term, mileage and duration to arrive at monthly payments that suit them.

Hasan Nergiz (pictured), newly-appointed head of manufacturer proposition and strategy, said: “This feels like the next step in the growth of Carwow, our data is mature and robust and our customer database is ever increasing with more 100,000 new users joining us each month. As a result we are not only helping the industry answer the changing consumer purchase challenges, but assisting their understanding of the increasingly complex buying trends.

“This is a good time for the whole industry, as technology has presented us all with so many opportunities. We can help manufacturers with their problems and this in turn will help us to grow our business and our place in the industry.”

Nergiz has brought with him more than 11 years experience in the automotive industry having worked at Nissan, Toyota and BMW, both in the UK and in continental Europe.

His main responsibilities now are to build relationships with manufacturers while showcasing the insight that Carwow can offer.

He has helped develop the partnership as he hopes it will "play a big part in opening that dialogue".

In addition, Volvo will use Carwow’s onsite data to better concentrate its marketing and tactical campaigns, collaborating to deliver highly targeted activity.

With Carwow users configuring five vehicles on average across three brands, there is a wealth of loyalty insight, cross selling data and customer journey understanding to be gleaned from Carwow’s five million plus annual configurations.

Volvo Car UK’s operations director David Baddeley said: “The arrival of the much anticipated new XC60 with our dealers next month makes this the perfect time for Volvo’s online finance calculator to launch on Carwow. Demand for our new cars has driven four years of consecutive sales growth in the UK and with XC60 set to be one of our best-sellers, this is a great opportunity for both our customers and our dealers.

“Being the first brand to work with Carwow in this way gives our dealers a real advantage too. With tens of thousands of Volvo models configured on the Carwow site, and a wealth of customer behaviour data, we’ll be able to further concentrate our marketing campaigns to support our network and continue our sales growth.”

Carwow’s head of market development Rob Abrahams said: “This partnership further empowers consumers, which is a critical part of modern retail. By removing a potential friction point from the buying process, and giving consumers everything they need in one place, we’re recognising how consumers research online.

“As the first brand to join with us on this, Volvo is leading the way in recognising the importance of new digital routes to market. It’s a collaboration with a clear shared goal of driving more new car and finance sales through franchised dealers - an obvious win-win.

"Online is still considered a new route to market for much of the industry. That said, Carwow now works with around half of the UK franchised dealer network and 80% of the AM top 20 dealer groups, who recognise the power of the independent digital channel."